Public meeting on Aboriginal rights
By Matt Wilson
ADELAIDE — The federal government assault on native title is the endgame of the assault on Aboriginal rights since European invasion, a public meeting on the Wik debate and Aboriginal heritage heard here on April 16.
Matt Rigney, chairperson of the Patpa Warra Yunti Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission regional council, reminded the audience of 70 people about the history of oppression of Aboriginal people.
He reiterated that pastoral leases are not owned by the pastoralists, and the government is using the Wik debate as an excuse to convert pastoral land into freehold.
The federal government's planned extinguishment of native title is the final step in legitimising the theft of their land, Rigney said.
Sandra Saunders, director of the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM), told the meeting that the influence of the pastoral and mining lobby on the government is very strong, not least because cabinet includes some of Australia's biggest landholders. For example, Hugh McLachlan is the largest landholder in the country and is the cousin of defence minister Ian McLachlan, who has substantial land holdings himself.
Saunders stated that the system of land tenure was founded on lies, and organisations such as the National Farmers Federation are only acting to shore up their own entitlements to the land. Native title is all about coexistence with pastoralists and negotiation, she said.
Chris Charles from the ALRM said that the fundamental aspect of the native title process was that it maintained the right to negotiate. Extinguishment would stop this.
The meeting also discussed the South Australian government's Aboriginal Heritage Act, which the government wants to pass without any consultation with Aboriginal groups. This legislation disregards Aboriginal heritage considerations unless they meet stringent registration conditions.